passion vs passion

Dove chocolate single pieces are in essence the "fortune cookie" of chocolate. After you have removed your piece of chocolate a message is written on the inside of the foil. Some times the messages are funny and other times they cause you to reflect. One of my favorite messages is "When two hearts race together they both win." (I think that is what it says.)
Recently my friends and I were talking about the choices we have for who we want to date. We pointed out that we'd have more options if we went to a bar, and of course there are the online dating sites etc... I chimed in on this conversation pointing out that yeah if we did frequent those places we would have more options, and that if I went back to my old dating habits (wrong guys) I could have a date in no time. In the end we all came to the consensus that it's better to wait on the right guy that God has for us, to be single and happy instead of in a dead in marriage that never should have been. Don't get me wrong...we're all for marriage and being married. We just don't want to end up with the wrong guy.
Today, my friends (Teresa & Fabian) visited my church which is also Teresa's old church. They've lived out of the country for the past couple of years and have recently moved back. At the missionary meeting Teresa & Fabian spoke a little on their time away. Fabian gave a short testimony of how his life changed after accepting Christ as his Savior. He talked about the passion he had to tell others about Jesus. Even though he didn't know much about the Bible he still felt the urge to tell others anywhere he was. He pointed out that whether rich or poor everyone needed to hear about Jesus. You could see the passion and urgency in his eyes. As Teresa translated I could see the connection they had. They both share a passion for ministry. Whether on the field in another country or in the US. As I listened and watched the two of them I saw how God worked in both of their lives to bring them together.
I started to reflect on my conversation with my friends, where I am at this point in my life, and the desire to be in a relationship. Watching them and hearing their testimony stirred up the embers of the fire that have been dying out in my soul. I've let things bring me down and distract me from serving on the field either full time or just short term. Friends have tried to set me up with guys, yet I know they don't have the same passion I do to be out in the mission field.
Teresa and Fabian fit the dove message I listed at the beginning "when 2 hearts race together they both win" It became apparent to me today that I need to wait on God for a man who shares my passion of being in the mission field...and that I need to keep the embers stirred up inside of me so that others will see my passion for the broken hearted. That others will see God through me. Check out this video by Brandon Heath "Give me your Eyes" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ

V-Day surprises

This past valentines day the owner of the company I work for brought in a bunch of candy for us. During lunch one day I got to looking at the candy. They were bight size twix, recees etc... wrapped in shinny pink and red paper. I noticed that they had the to / from on the package so that you could give them as a valentine. I made the comment of how things have changed since I was a kid. We were lucky if we even got the valentine heart candy or red suckers. Even though I didn't like the red suckers I still wanted to get one.

On Valentines day I walked to my desk and saw a red plastic heart full of m&m's & red heart suckers. I didn't think anything of it until my friend said something to me. She asked me if I had seen the suckers. I said yes but wasn't making that much of it as I assumed we all had received them. Tammy told me that Stacy (our boss) had gotten those just for me. She wanted me to have red suckers since I never got them growing up. We laughed about it. It was a sweet idea. The suckers were gourmet and much better than the cheap ones. I think that's the best valentines gift I've received to date. :)

Caddy

I love pets and I've always wanted one, I just couldn't have them. I have allergies on top of asthma which makes it 10 times worse. I'm allergic to anything with fur even with medication I still suffer. I've found a solution to my problem. My neighbor is a good friend of mine and recently bought a dog. They named her Cadillac and call her caddi for short. She's a white and taupe imperial Shih Tzu and is a joy to be around. If the weather is nice she comes over and I'll toss the ball with her. She loves to sit underneath a tree in the yard and she loves to use our yard as her bathroom. Joy (neighbor) has said anytime I want to take her to the dog park or on a walk I'm welcomed to. If the garage is up and caddy's out she comes hopping on over. She's precious. Today when I arrived home from church she saw me pull up and ran over to greet me. We played for a bit then went for a walk. I think we were both worn out by the time we got back. Having Caddy next door is like having a pet. I get the benefits of having a pet without all the hassle. Not to mention she doesn't bother my allergies that much.